GM Inside News Forum banner
Cancel

May Sales: FoMoCo: Down 16%, Ford cars up 13%, Focus up 53% (retail up 105%)

Jump to Latest Follow
1 - 20 of 64 Posts
I

· Registered
Joined
·
6,490 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 · (Edited)
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=28324



MAY BRINGS RECORD SALES FOR FORD FOCUS, FUSION​
  • Ford's redesigned Focus posted record May sales of 32,579, up 53 percent versus a year ago; retail sales to individual customers more than doubled (up 105 percent).
  • Ford Fusion May sales (18,088) were the highest for any month, up 27 percent versus a year ago.
  • Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales were 4 percent higher, with retail sales up 20 percent.
  • Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sales totaled 206,000, down 16 percent, reflecting lower daily rental (down 30 percent), truck and van (down 29 percent) and SUV (down 44 percent) sales.
  • Total Ford Motor Company sales (including Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo) totaled 217,998, also down 16 percent.
  • Ford confirms second and third quarter North American production plans.
Click to expand...
DETAILED SALES BREAKDOWN HERE: http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=28324

Igor
 
wescoent

· Registered
Joined
·
13,069 Posts
#2 ·
The train has begun to roll.

People are slowly but surely realizing that Ford makes cars that are high quality and competitive with the Japanese.

People also realize that gas is $4.00 a gallon, and buying an F-150 to commute to work in and drive up your gravel driveway isn't the best idea anymore.

Either way, Ford is prepared. Flex and MKS are hitting dealers this month.
 
Save Share
Reply Quote
C

· Banned
Joined
·
1,460 Posts
#3 ·
Save Share
Reply Quote
wescoent

· Registered
Joined
·
13,069 Posts
#7 ·
CmicasatheGreat said:
Did Ford just come outta NOWHERE and WALLOP the Cobalt with the new Focus??? Jeezus... 32K sales puts it up there with the Camry...
Click to expand...
Not only that... but that's a Civic and Corolla number. Ford may have the best-selling compact car for May.
 
Save Share
Reply Quote
paul8488

· Premium Member
Joined
·
23,308 Posts
#9 ·
All Ford-branded cars are up, all Ford-branded trucks are down. It's too bad it's not out now, but this bodes well for the Fiesta when it finally arrives. Might not be a bad idea for Ford to consider a Fusion wagon. Actually, Ford should offer a 2 door, 3 door, 4 door, and 5 door Focus, to capatilize on its huge success. Ford should already be working on improving Focus fuel economy... the Focus should be their number-one priority vehicle right now, and they should finesse it until it's perfect.

The upcoming (it IS confirmed, right?!?) connect is also a good idea.
 
I

· Registered
Joined
·
6,490 Posts
Discussion Starter · #13 ·
paul8488 said:
All Ford-branded cars are up, all Ford-branded trucks are down. It's too bad it's not out now, but this bodes well for the Fiesta when it finally arrives. Might not be a bad idea for Ford to consider a Fusion wagon. Actually, Ford should offer a 2 door, 3 door, 4 door, and 5 door Focus, to capatilize on its huge success. Ford should already be working on improving Focus fuel economy... the Focus should be their number-one priority vehicle right now, and they should finesse it until it's perfect.

The upcoming (it IS confirmed, right?!?) connect is also a good idea.
Click to expand...
The Focus is getting 6speed Auto next spring. That should help things.

Igor
 
paul8488

· Premium Member
Joined
·
23,308 Posts
#14 ·
igor said:
The Focus is getting 6speed Auto next spring. That should help things.

Igor
Click to expand...
Ah no joke! I didn't know that! That's the exact sort of thing they need to do. All too often the domestics release a decent car and leave it to go stale until the next model comes out. Incremental changes are the best wayt o keep a model going for years. CObalt XFE is a good example, and so is the Focus 6-speed.

I think Ford should come up with a little Focus-based pickup and delivery fan and a convertible. Make it a whole mini-brand. Make the plant flexible enough that they can adjust production of individual models up and down to keep the plant running at an overall steady level. They could add a performance coupe model... call it MustangMini, in the same vein as the old Probe... give it overall similar styling to the Mustang and a performance 4-cylinder engine to attract people that want a sporty car but are scared off of the Mustang due to high fuel prices.
 
paul8488

· Premium Member
Joined
·
23,308 Posts
#16 · (Edited)
Okay I know this is sacrilege to say on a GM site, but the success of the Focus convinces me that the Camaro should have been postponed or outright canned in favour of a new Cobalt. A halo is fine and dandy, but GM has one... the Corvette. The Malibu is doing well because, well, it's a darn fine car. Chevrolet's problem isn't a lack of 'halo'... it's a lack of a class-leading small car!

The Mustang is down to a rate of not much over 50,000 units per year. Camro won't do that in its first year, or any year. I think it's hot as anything, but as someone else pointed out the Mustang has always been a better seller, and the Camaro has been out of rotation long enough that it's going to need a massive ad campain (not the useless one last year in Transformers that people have forgotten) to get its name out there again. And I can't believe that GM has the money for that right now.

The money spent on Camaro development (and it must have been a fortune... shorter wheelbase, totally unique exterior and interior) could have produced an amazing Cobalt. I AM glad that there will be a new Camaro, and it's going to be a wonderful car, but it was a very costly distraction that GM didn't need right now.
 
H

· Banned
Joined
·
6,652 Posts
#17 ·
paul8488 said:
The Mustang is down to a rate of not much over 50,000 units per year. Camro won't do that in its first year, or any year.
Click to expand...
I think you are correct. The frightful fact is that GM "plans" to sell 100,000 per year. How long will it take before they are piled up on lots, with $5,000 on the hood, and factories closing? Meanwhile, the 36 mpg Cobalt marches on in its 5th... 6th...7th... year.



Chevy has big plans, anticipating up to 100,000 Camaro sales per year
Click to expand...
source

While it is being forecast that Malibu could sell 200,000 units annually, the Aura might see 300,000 units. Meanwhile 100,000 Camaros are what industry experts expect.
Click to expand...
source
 
K-1

· Registered
Joined
·
3,732 Posts
#18 ·
paul8488 said:
The money spent on Camaro development (and it must have been a fortune... shorter wheelbase, totally unique exterior and interior) could have produced an amazing Cobalt. I AM glad that there will be a new Camaro, and it's going to be a wonderful car, but it was a very costly distraction that GM didn't need right now.
Click to expand...
The money spent on the Camaro has little, if any, affect on the new Cobalt. The work is being done by two totally different teams.
 
2

· Registered
Joined
·
121 Posts
#19 ·
The focus has been a decent car for a while now. I my in-laws have a '05 ST model (same engine as the Mazda 3 2.5) and it is a great handling , and peppy little car. Ford has emphasized its 35mpg rating and people are catching on that its actually a quality vehicle.
 
Save Share
Reply Quote
T

· Registered
Joined
·
8,990 Posts
#20 ·
HoosierRon said:
32,579 Focuses. That is an annual rate of 390,948. And keep in mind that Ford is production constrained. It could be selling even more.

Just imagine if it weren't butt-ugly.
Click to expand...
Sure, it may have been a blip, sure it may gave been heavily incentivized, and it may even have been sold heavily to fleet, but the fact that the Focus sold over 30,000 units for any month is absolutely remarkable. I definitely would not have called that one.

And, yes, imagine if it weren't so butt-ugly.
 
1 - 20 of 64 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
About this Discussion
63 Replies
37 Participants
Last post:
Ach
GM Inside News Forum
A forum community dedicated to GM owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about General Motors news, concepts, releases, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Automotive Industry & GM News General Car Lounge Global Chevrolet News Competition News Global Cadillac News
Top